Super bantamweights in rematch

Dean Juipe

Thursday, April 17, 1997 | 11:59 a.m.

When their paths crossed five months ago, it was generally believed Marco Antonio Barrera was using Junior Jones.

Barrera was 43-0 at the time, a winner of 31 fights by knockout and thought to be one of boxing's rising stars.

Jones, conversely, appeared to be on a downward slide. He was an ex-champion who still had a good name but who was looking worn, having lost not only to the marginally respectable John Michael Johnson, but to the very mediocre Daryl Pinckney.

Clearly, it was Barrera who was expected to win.

Yet it was Jones who had his hand raised in victory, their November fight in Tampa stopped in the fifth round with Barrera on the floor and his handlers pawing at the ropes to get to him. Officially, because of the cornermen's interference, it went down in the books as a disqualification.

Now, to alleviate any uncertainty, Jones and Barrera are fighting again. They're scheduled for 12 rounds with the WBO super bantamweight title at stake Friday at the Las Vegas Hilton.

"It's not like I was forced to do this," Jones said Wednesday. "I want to fight him again to silence the critics who said the first fight didn't end right.

"It's also personal. He can act however he wants now, but, back then, he didn't act like a champion. He gave excuses. I didn't like his attitude."

Barrera's present attitude is far less cavalier. If anything, he comes across as the repentant youth.

"I lost," he said matter-of-factly of Jones-Barrera I. "I need to win, so that I can say I beat Junior Jones. I win and everything is perfect again."

Barrera, 23, may have slipped from the fast track, yet he's favored in the Hilton sports book to take the rematch with his new nemesis. Barrera is a --160 while Jones is a +120; the round prop is seven.

"It's important for Barrera to get back in the ring with Jones," said promoter Dino Duva. "It was a shock for Barrera when Jones beat him the first time."

Contributing to the shock was the fact Barrera was ahead on the judges' scorecards at the time of the stoppage. Yet Jones was dominating the fifth round, cutting Barrera on the forehead with a barrage of right-handed punches and leaving referee Max Parker with little choice but to stop the fight when Barrera hit the canvas and his handlers intervened.

"This fight is going to finish in a knockout, too," Jones predicted. "It won't go too far, trust me. I'm going to win again."

It was just a very short time ago that Jones appeared to be washed up. The losses to Johnson (in Las Vegas) and Pinckney, both in 1994, were followed by the death of Jones' trainer, Joey Farriello.

"I look at that time as a freak of nature," Jones said. "I don't know why it happened, but I went downhill with those two losses.

"But now I'm back on top."

He's 43-2 with 26 KOs coming into this one, which will be televised by HBO.

"Junior was a legendary amateur standout, then a great professional champion," Duva said. "Then he had a bad streak and people counted him out.

"But you see him today and he looks strong. He punches like a welterweight and has a middleweight's reach."

Jones, 26, is a native of New York City who survived a 1987 armed robbery on a street there. These days he's trained by Tommy Brooks and managed by Gary Gittlesohn, who predicted Friday's fight "will be a barn burner."

Barrera, of Mexico City, said he'll offer no excuses this time. Back in November, he not only was troubled by the ending of his fight with Jones and complained about it, he was also distracted by what proved to be erroneous reports from Mexico that a sister and a niece had been kidnapped.

"Mental preparation is very important," Barrera said. "I was mentally tired (in November). Now, it's different. I'm coming into this fight 100 percent, and I'm relaxed and confident."

And ready to take care of the business that eluded him in Tampa.